


Bleeding Love

by YouarethereasonIwrite



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Fluff, Genderfluid Character, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Light Angst, Oc of mine, Oneshot, Other, Suicide mention, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-07-07
Packaged: 2018-04-08 03:09:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4288440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouarethereasonIwrite/pseuds/YouarethereasonIwrite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oikawa Tooru works at a Target with their best friend, Iwaizumi. Sounds pretty mundane, right? Well, little does Oikawa know, a certain customer of theirs will turn their life upside down. OR: UA in which genderfluid! Oikawa meets trans! Hinata and the dorks fall in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bleeding Love

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo! I've had this fanfic since last year and I finally finished it today, so yay! I've always wanted to write Oihina, which is my second otp after kagehina! I love how Oikawa is like extremely intrigued in Hinata when he first sees Hinata's spike, which flared my inner shipper hell... Anyway, I hope you enjoy this fic, which is about 27 pages according to google docs! I really should be working on my other fanfics but this one is one of my favorites!
> 
> PS. All my fanfics are unbeta'd! If there's anyone like super bad mistakes, please tell me! I'll try to fix it as soon as possible! Also, as seen in the tags, there is suicide mention in the beginning, so if that triggers you, please skip it! Idk if anyone wrote a prompt like this one for Oihina (or for any other pairing or fandom), but if there is, it's purely coincidental. Anyway, enjoy!

 

 

In hindsight, Oikawa should have picked a better place to work in than a boring old Target. But at the time, Target seemed like the most amazing place to grab some fast money. Hey, anything was fucking better than Walmart, that’s for sure.

“Iwa-chan! I’m so bored.” They groaned at their best friend since elementary, Iwaizumi Hajime, who merely scowled over at them. Oikawa whined again, slumping against the cash register as they ignored their phone vibrating every other second. Hey, it wasn’t their fault they were so popular amongst people.

“Shut up, Assikawa. Why did you have to be working at the same fucking Target as me on the same fucking shift? Is that even possible?” Iwaizumi muttered the last part to himself, glaring daggers into his best friend’s ridiculous hair. They smile innocently over at the raven, running a hand through cinnamon locks.

“Iwa-chan, you shouldn’t cuss in front of the customers.” Oikawa scolded with a teasing grin, knowing that they would be able to rile up their friend if they even glanced his way. Iwaizumi’s scowl grew larger, but he ignored the other’s teasing in favor of serving a customer that went in his lane. The brunette pouted, wishing someone would finally end their misery and boredom in the morning shift. Their prayers were answered as a bundle of orange curls sped quickly until the person stood at the register Oikawa was stationed at with a box of tampons in their arms. Oikawa’s eyes widened a bit, amazed at the sight in front of them.

“Whoa.” They muttered out loud, scanning the short person (really short) in front of them like they were watching volleyball. The person was short and not just a few inches shorter but like grandma short. Oikawa also noticed how smooth the person’s legs were, which were clad in overall shorts, striped ankle high socks, and black converse. The customer wore an oversized, baggy white  t-shirt on top that read, “Suck It” with big, pink letters. And finally, the beautiful short, orange hair. The mass of sunset curls bounced up and down as the person jumped up and down in impatience, looking quite antsy and nervous for some reason. The brunette immediately pulled on a charming smile and met the large chocolate eyes staring right back.

“Hello.” _Hello indeed._ “ Welcome to Target! Is that all for you?” Oikawa questioned, easily scanning the box of tampons and dropping it into a grocery bag. The shorter one quickly bobbed their head up and down, eyes surveying around the area in a frantic motion.

“Y-yeah.” The orange head answered meekly, their high pitched voice quivering lightly. Oikawa smiled at the sound, feeling their interest towards the mysterious tampon buyer increase. The person was cute after all.

“Alright then! The total is $8.74.” The customer handed over $10 with a shaky hand. “Alright. $1.26 is your total. And here’s your receipt.” Oikawa expertly handed over the change and kept their hand on the shorter one’s far longer than a normal cashier should be touching their customer. They jumped before bobbing their head up and down and hurriedly pocketing the change in their overalls. Smiling weakly, the person grabbed the grocery bag before basically sprinting out of the store. Oikawa watched as the figure of tampon shopper booked it out of the store, the sliding doors opening and closing.

 _They probably leaked or something. Poor chibi-chan._ _They were so cute too._ Oikawa unconsciously sighed, ignoring the pointed look from Iwaizumi. The cute shopper wouldn’t leave Oikawa’s mind for a while, even when they were constantly being flirted and hit on by all genders alike and scanning countless amounts of random items from Target. They kept humming the whole time, subconsciously irritating Iwaizumi and dancing along to the imaginary beat.

“Ok, what the fuck happened this time? Did you break something?” Iwaizumi demanded when the two were on lunch break, munching ferociously into an egg sandwich. Oikawa shrugged, humming as they took a bite from their Greek salad.

“Nothing. I didn’t do anything, Iwa-chan.” The brunette happily responded after they chewed some crunchy lettuce leaves. The raven’s eyes narrowed.

“I’m checking your register after lunch, fuckwad.” Iwaizumi paused in his bite and curiously glanced over to his humming friend. “So? What happened then? You only really smile when something good happens, which is usually at that Kageyama kid’s expense. That or you landed yourself with a date who’s not as shitty as Iggy Azalea’s rapping.” Oikawa pouted at their friend’s words.

“Hey! I don’t have bad taste in people!” They defended, feeling a bit annoyed and offended at what their friend was trying to say. The raven snorted around his mouthful of egg sandwich, neatly brushing the napkin against his lips before he spoke again.

“Remember Ushijima?”

“No. Who is this Ushijima person? Sounds like someone shitty.” Oikawa yelped when Iwaizumi struck them against the back of the head with his palm. He crossed his arms after placing the empty wrap from his lunch on the table.

“You dated him, remember? Maybe I should hit you again since your memory is so shitty.” Iwaizumi threatened with a menacing glower and his best friend immediately eeped in horror, shielding themselves with their arms.

“No, no! Iwa-chan, I remember! I remember!” They yelled, feeling their friend’s strong fists beating them on the head and arms. Iwaizumi flipped the other off, rolling his eyes at the same time.

“Good. So you can remember what a mistake it was and how fucking toxic your relationship was with him.”

“He likes volleyball.”

“So do you, idiot. The difference is, he ignored you completely and only focused on volleyball. Then, you found out he was cheating on you with another guy who so happens to be Kageyama.”

“Kageyama can go suck ten balls.” Oikawa answered truthfully, feeling their anger spike up at the thought of their cheating ex-boyfriend and his current boyfriend.

“How mature of you, Shittykawa.” Iwaizumi snarkily replied, rolling his eyes and throwing his trash away with perfect aim. Oikawa grinned and without looking, tossed their trash away as well. The salad box landed perfectly in the trash can without a sound.

“Of course, Iwa-chan!” The brunette practically sang. They sighed dreamily at the thought of one particular customer with the prettiest chocolate eyes, the smoothest milk white skin, and the spiky orange strands that reminded Oikawa of brownish almost orange walls and floors in the gym back when they were in high school. He could almost smell the familiar, overwhelming scent of salonpas, sweat, and hard work.

Iwaizumi glared suspiciously at his dreaming, idiotic friend and sipped on his sports drink. “No seriously, why aren’t you as annoying as you usually are?” The raven inquired, hand raised just in case the other started to spout dumb things again.

“Oh, Iwa-chan…” The brunette started with a dreamy sigh, “they’re so perfect.”

“What.”

“You should have seen them! They had the most pretty orange hair and the smoothest skin I’ve seen only on models… And-and! The little freckles on their face were so cute! And Iwa-chan! Those eyes! Their doe like eyes were really pretty like chocolate and you know how I love chocolate and cute things and I just want to hold them close and--”

“Oh my god, shut up, you pervert.” Iwaizumi snapped with little heat. He was too stunned to cuss out his friend as he watched the other babble on and on about this mysterious customer and how “the way they were trembling reminded me of a shy deer”. He shook his head. Oikawa was in deep. As in, abyss deep and no one could save their gay ass.

“I hope they come back soon…” Oikawa sighed, picking at their nails with a depressed pout.

“For their sake, I hope they never come back again.” Iwaizumi commented, pushing himself up from the table. “Now come on, we have to go back to work, Shittykawa.”

“Meanie! You’re just jealous that no one likes your face--ow! OW! I’m sorry, Iwa-chan, I’m sorry! Please stop hitting-OW-me!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fortunately for Oikawa, their mysterious tampon buyer crush came back again. Unfortunately for Oikawa, they came back in a month at the same time and day. Meaning multiple beatings from their childhood friend because they wouldn’t stop complaining and whining about how their crush would never come back to this shitty Target again (they couldn’t blame their crush though, Target was pretty bad but not like Wal-mart bad).

“Oh my god! They’re back, they’re back, Iwa-chan! They’re back!” Oikawa squealed like one of their fangirls and launched their body at the irritated raven.

“I’m not blind, idiot.” Iwaizumi muttered, scanning the area and locking immediately on the only person who had “blinding orange curls” and “chocolate doe like eyes”. The shorter person held a box of tampons in their hands again and easily made it to the cash register. This time, they were wearing jean capris, the same black converse, a white shirt that read, “Stressed, Depressed, But Well Dressed” in bold black letters, and a light green hoodie. In those sunny spikes, tiny golden star clips were pinned on the strands, probably to try to tame them.

Oikawa fixed their shirt and combed nimble fingers through their cinnamon locks. The brunette smiled charmingly at the person they’ve been fantasizing since the fateful day they met, and inwardly whooped in glee when the shorter one blushed.

“Anything else for you?” Oikawa asked after scanning the one item and placing it mechanically in the grocery bag.

“U-uh, no.” The sweet voice stuttered. The taller male inwardly sighed like a romantic sap at the other’s honey like voice.

“Then, I hope you have a nice day! Oh, and I like your shirt.” _I like your whole outfit. And your hair. And your cute smile. And just you in general._

“O-oh! Thank you, um,” the shorter one peered at Oikawa’s wrinkle free shirt and read the nametag, “Oikawa!” Oikawa nearly swooned out loud when the sweet, pink lips mouthed their name and ended with those torturing lips curling up into a large, sunny grin. Fuck.

“Bye, chibi-chan!” The brunette called out when the other bounced off without the antsy, anxious (and adorable trembling) look in their eyes. The shorter one whirled around quickly at the nickname and stuck out their tongue. _Cute._

“It’s Hinata! Hinata Shouyou, Oibaka!” Hinata yelped, an orange ball of literal sunshine as they practically stormed out of the store much like an orange typhoon. Iwaizumi snickered at the nickname and glanced over to his friend to see what reaction they had. Instead of a pout, he found a wide eyed, grinning Oikawa who looked like they just experienced a new volleyball technique.

“They’re amazing…” The brunette breathed out in awe, a starry look in their eyes. Iwaizumi restrained himself from smacking the other to go back to work and instead, nodded at a customer who set a carton of eggs on the conveyor belt.

“Alright, your total is…”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So, the two would meet at the Target whenever Oikawa was working. At first, things were a bit awkward, with Hinata shyly peeking out of their shell and Oikawa’s infamous “lady killer” smiles that soon faded into genuine, wide grins. Hinata eventually warmed up to the cashier, throwing back insults whenever Oikawa would tease the other and try to rile them up (it would always end up working). They fell into a familiar routine in which Hinata would buy the usual box of tampons every month on the same day and time, and Oikawa would greet them with a cheerful “Hello, chibi-chan~”.

It was one particular day, however, when Oikawa found themselves in a foul mood, a fake grin plastered on their face like a sticker. Hinata was there, of course, on the same day they were always there to buy tampons. Except this time, they were accompanied by another person with soft, caramel eyes and long, golden hair falling into slight curls. The two looked like an ideal couple, the blonde one with a shaky, fond smile directed at the other who barely contained their giggles and had large eyes enveloped with glee.

“Hello, chibi-chan.” The brunette pointedly smiled at the orange head, who was too engrossed with the other blonde and telling their story with tiny hops that they accidentally ignored the cashier. Oikawa felt their foul mood increase tenfold.

“Uh, Shouyou (Oikawa gasped quietly). You should probably pay for that before we start a line.” The blonde one worriedly glanced behind them at those words, as if a whole horde of people would magically appear behind them with impatient glares and tapping feet. Oikawa secretly hoped that one of the **real** UFOs would swoop down from the sky and abduct Hinata’s friend (or maybe even lover) so that Hinata would actually pay attention to Oikawa.

“Oh, right! Hey, Oibaka!” Those dreamy brown eyes (that Oikawa openly admitted to daydreaming about) finally met Oikawa’s own.

“Yaho, chibi-chan!” Oikawa winked at the two customers and waved at the person next to their crush. The blonde one blushed a little before staring at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing. “How are you? And who’s your cute friend?” The cashier nearly smiled smugly when Hinata pouted a bit, their cheeks puffing up like a chipmunk with a nut.

“She’s Yachi! She’s one of my best friends! Yachi, this is Oikawa.” Hinata introduced the two to each other and Yachi suddenly gasped, a knowing look in her eyes. She covered her mouth with one hand and then smiled, the previous anxiety she held completely forgotten.

“So _that’s_ the one you’ve been talking about. Your--”

“YACHI!” Hinata hollered, red spreading across their face as they weakly and embarrassingly covered their friend’s mouth with their hand. Yachi’s eyes sparkled with humor as she gently pried Hinata’s hands away from her lips.

“It was nice meeting you, Oikawa. Thanks for putting up with my friend here. He’s kind of a hassle.” She giggled when Hinata shot a death glare at her, which only turned out to be a deep pout. Oikawa chuckled at the sight, feeling their heart flutter with glee. They begrudgingly admitted that Hinata’s friend turned out to be a hell of a lot nicer than Oikawa was hoping.

“You two look cute together.” The brunette complimented with a heavy heart. Their lips pulled up into a crudely fake grin as they closed their eyes to hide the pain and longing.

“What? We’re--” Yachi was interrupted yet again by Hinata as they-- _he_ grabbed the grocery bag after tossing ten dollars onto the counter. With a forced grin, the orange head waved at the brunette before all but running out of the store with his blonde girlfriend behind him. Oikawa waved back until they were out of sight before slumping down against the cash register.

“Iwa-chan!” The brunette whined, seeing as the store was nearly empty in the morning. Iwaizumi crossed his arms and rose an eyebrow at his insufferable friend.

“What.” He stated, feeling irritation creep up onto him as the other sighed over dramatically and sniffled quite pathetically.

“I’ve been dumped!”

“What?” This time, Iwaizumi was legitimately confused. A bit smug at how not everyone fell for his friend’s stupid charms, but also surprised at how someone didn’t actually fall for their charms.

“Chibi-chan already has a girlfriend! And she’s cute too!” The brunette pitifully wailed, burying their head into their arms as they rested against the counter. The raven rolled his eyes at the other’s crocodile tears. On the inside though, he knew how insecure his friend really was about themselves and the way they look. He knew about how Oikawa used to overwork themselves over volleyball and then ended up retiring from their career early due to a bad knee. Iwaizumi remembered the days Oikawa would cry to him about how Ushijima wouldn’t pay attention to them and how it must be because they weren’t good enough, weren’t beautiful enough. And he distinctly remembered how his best friend, Oikawa Tooru nearly jumped off a building when they found out their boyfriend was unfaithful.

“You’re pretty dumb.”

“Hey!”

“And you can be really annoying and sometimes, I want to slam your smug face into the ground or throw a volleyball at you.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be making me feel better?”

“But… But, you’re a great person, Oikawa. I wouldn’t have stuck as your best friend for so long if I thought otherwise.” Iwaizumi finished, pointedly avoiding eye contact with his bubbly friend. And sure enough, a loud cry came from the brunette as Oikawa launched themselves over to their best friend and wrapped their trembling arms around the raven.

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa sobbed, feeling their heart being slowly crushed, once more. Their interest in their favorite customer would never fade, but deep inside, the brunette wished that somebody would love them back. That someone would actually fucking care about them for once, just as much as they cared about that somebody.

“Yeah, yeah. You know I don’t do mushy stuff.” Iwaizumi grumbled, patting down his friend’s spiky hair with ease (and years of practice).

“....Can I come over today?” Oikawa quietly asked. The raven stared down at his fellow co-worker and managed a small smile. He quickly erased it before the other was able to see it, however.

“..Whatever.” For as long as the brunette had their best friend, they would be okay. Everything would be okay.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Well at least, everything was supposed to be okay. Somehow, Hinata always snuck into Oikawa’s mind no matter how many times they would force it out again. It was as if their subconscious was telling them to chase after the customer regardless of his cute girlfriend and how cute they looked together. Or how they seemed to be in sync and held as deep of a bond as Oikawa and Iwaizumi did. Now, the brunette had actually thought of dating their best friend before; however, the raven was asexual and aromantic and wasn’t searching for a significant other anytime soon. Not only that, but Oikawa wanted someone more affectionate and loving, someone that was as bubbly, bright, and sunshiney as Hinata. Fuck.

“Hey, Oikawa!” Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Oikawa forced on their best grin and stuck out a peace sign when Hinata approached.

“Hiya, chibi-chan!” The orange haired customer pouted at their words and muttered about how it wasn’t his fault that Oikawa was so damn tall. The cashier couldn’t suppress a fond grin as they checked out the familiar brand of tampons.

“You’re such a great boyfriend, chibi-chan.” They complimented, fighting back the urge to curl up in a corner and cry. “Your girlfriend is so lucky to have you.”

“Huh?” Hinata blushed at the words but cocked his head to the side. He stared at his cashier like the person suddenly grew two heads. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, you always buy tampons for your girlfriend.” Oikawa frowned. “Well, they could also be for you, like no judging or anything. I’m not judgemental cause I’m genderfluid and wow I’m going to shut up now.” The brunette stopped blabbering and glared at Iwaizumi, who was snickering behind the counter, his shoulders shaking from the suppressed laughter. Hinata blinked owlishly up at Oikawa and the brunette immediately felt their stomach drop, especially when their crush snorted and let out a peal of bell like laughter.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at your gender or anything but… Pfft. Oh my god.” Hinata wiped away a stray tear and grinned brightly at the other. “These tampons are for me. I’m trans.”

“Oh.” Oikawa felt like an idiot. They could have just left it at “no judging or anything” instead of running their mouth like a fool.

“I was laughing because you just started talking a lot and getting anxious and like, I never expected that from you, you know?” The orange head admitted, rocking himself back and forth on his heels. The brunette gaped.

“What?”

“Well, you’re like nice and really pretty and like… You have a cute smile.” The male whispered the last part. Oikawa felt their heart drop. The words repeated in their head and echoed through their body; from every crevice, every crook and nanny, they felt the words seeping into their soul and soothing the leftover scars from their nasty fallout with their ex. They felt ensnared, like being caught in a trap filled with honeyed words and sweet chocolate eyes.

“Really?” Oikawa blurted out. Their mind had no filter at this point, with their crush’s words resounding through their head again and again and again.

“Yeah. I’ve always thought you were pretty attractive.” Hinata shuffled his feet, staring at the ground. The blush on his cheeks grew until they bloomed across his ears, the blood soaring down his neck and down, past his t-shirt line. The brunette gulped.

“What about your girlfriend?” They fervently hoped this bundle of joy and sunshine wasn’t a cheater like their previous boyfriend. Hinata scrunched up his nose.

“You mean Yachi? She’s not my girlfriend. She already has a girlfriend, so.” The shorter one explained, rubbing the back of his red neck with a small hand. All at once, the tension, the unhappiness, the _anxiety_ flowed out of the taller’s body, and Oikawa felt their bruised heart beat once more, filled with hope and wonder.

“So, you’re single?”

“Yeah. I have been for a while now.” Hinata played with his fingers and continued to stare at the dirty floor. When he peeked back up with shy, hopeful eyes, Oikawa knew. They knew that they were falling hard for the beautiful sunrise shining against the locks they were oh so familiar with. They knew that they had always been besotted with the twinkling brown orbs and the small freckles dotted across their crush’s nose like thousands of sands upon a beach. And they knew, more than anything, that they would never let him go.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It wasn’t until a week later, when Hinata returned with a bouquet of blue forget-me-nots, white daisies, and purple lilacs in one hand while the other nervously clutched onto a box of homemade brownies, that Oikawa was asked out on a date. After the whole misunderstanding was clear, the brunette found themselves back in the mundane routine of working part time as a Target employee while juggling two other jobs: one as a volleyball coach in the afternoon on the weekdays, and the other as a bartender at night every day. It was a hard life, but they had to pay back their debt from school somehow (as well as pay for rent and living costs).

Which brought them back to the present. Their first date in months was today and they had no idea what to wear, what to do, what to talk about, etc. So, Oikawa called up their trustworthy, blunt, best friend. Iwaizumi banged on the door at seven am with a big scowl and even bigger bags under his eyes.

“Why the fuck did you call me here at seven in the goddamn morning?” He demanded, shoving his way through the door and murmuring under his breath about ungrateful twats. Oikawa merely beamed, smiling, albeit nervously, as they sat down across from the half awake raven.

“I have a date with Hinata today.” Iwaizumi stared. And stared.

“Are you fucking kidding me? You’re joking.” At the pleading whimper from his best friend, Iwaizumi groaned in disbelief, slumping against the couch. He closed his eyes and massaged his temples, trying to restrain the urge to throttle his idiotic friend. Silence.

“So, are you going to help me?” The only response Oikawa received was a bigger groan. “I’ll take that as a “yes, gladly Tooru!”.”

“I hate you so much.”

“Love you too, Hajime!” Their chirpy reply was cut short by an infuriated raven who attempted to suffocate his dumbass friend. With nothing but wails filling the apartment, it was a slightly uneventful morning.

In the afternoon, however, Oikawa found themselves dancing across the room, humming to sappy love songs from the 80s and checking the time an uncountable number of times. Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, finally refreshed from a shower, shots of caffeine, and punching Oikawa until he was satisfied.

“Calm down. He’s coming in like ten minutes, Assikawa.” The brunette merely chortled loudly, their heart soaring as high as their hearty laughter as they continued to dance across their kitchen in their favorite fluffy socks.

“Do I look okay?” Oikawa slid over to their best friend, posing in ridiculous model poses that caused Iwaizumi to roll his eyes and lowly chuckle.

“For the last time, Oibaka, you look fine.” They pouted and skipped back to their bathroom to check their outfit one last time. The brunette was wearing a regular gray shirt with rows of fake daisies sewn on it, black shorts paired with black thigh highs, a red, oversized flannel shirt on top of their shirt, and black platform boots. They had a touch of red lipstick on their lips and their usual spiky hair in a black bowler hat.

Nodding once at their reflection, Oikawa stepped out of the bathroom just in time for the doorbell to ring. Internally squealing, the brunette sped walked over to the door. They straightened down their clothes, cleared their throat, and hurriedly turned the knob.

“Hi, Oikawa!” Hinata Shouyou, in all his cute glory, beamed up at his taller date. “You look really pretty today as well!” The male was wearing a blue and white striped polo shirt with a red bow tie underneath the collar. Clad in black jeans with a brown belt and slicked back hair, the male looked absolutely handsome. Presenting another bouquet of flowers from behind his back, Hinata grinned up at the mildly shocked expression of his date. The red tulips rustled when Oikawa gingerly took the bouquet, smiling dreamily down at the flowers before directing their gorgeous upturned lips at their date.

“Thank you, Shouyou.” Hinata blushed, shyly shuffling the ground as a habit and ruffling up his already messed up hair. Oikawa beamed at the other, stepping back to allow their crush in (and maybe even soon to be boyfriend). “Just wait a second while I go fetch a vase for this.”

“Okay!” Hinata agreed and carefully stepped into the small house, surveying the place with wide eyed wonder. “Oh!” He finally noticed a grumpy raven with crossed arms who reminded the male of his ex boyfriend. Pushing the negative thoughts away, Hinata quickly bowed to the person, nearly falling over from the amount of force. Iwaizumi chuckled.

“You don’t have to bow to me, kiddo.”

“Oh! Well, it’s just to be respectful and stuff.” Hinata scratched his cheek sheepishly. “My mom always drilled that into me when I was younger. My name is Hinata Shouyou! What’s yours?”

“Iwaizumi Hajime.”

“You’re Oikawa’s best friend!” The orange haired male excitedly chirped, bouncing up and down in place with a proud gleam in his eyes. The raven couldn’t help but chortle; Hinata harbored this happy, cheerful energy around him that caused others to be unable to resist feeling just as bubbly as he did.

“That, I am, unfortunately.”

“Eh? What do you mean?” Before the raven could answer, Oikawa rushed back out (or as fast as one with heels could) and beamed at their date.

“I’m ready to go!” They announced, a wide smile on their face. Hinata’s grin widened and he hopped back and forth on his toes like a little crow, waving at Iwaizumi. Oikawa stowed away the adorable habit in the back of their mind as they walked out of their apartment and waved to Iwaizumi until Hinata led them away to an old, beaten up car.

“Sorry, it’s the only thing I can afford. But, it holds a lot of fond memories.” The male explained, even going as far to open the door for their date. Oikawa giggled at the gesture and sat down on the seat, breathing in a mixture of vanilla and apple pie. Hinata buckled into his seat and began to drive away, turning on the radio to some station with soothing 90s music.

“So, how are you, Oikawa?” Hinata inquired, staring straight ahead at the road.

“You can just call me Tooru. I call you Shouyou, after all.” The brunette reasoned. Hinata hummed.

“Fair enough.”

“And I’m good, thanks! How about you, chibi-chan?” They giggled again when their crush stuck out a tongue at them before eyeing the road once more.

“I’m good, Oibaka! And I’m not that short.” The younger one complained, puffing up his cheeks. The brunette smiled teasingly at the other.

“You’re short compared to me, though.”

“Hey! And it’s not my fault you were born taller than me! Plus, you’re wearing high heels! That’s like, cheating!”

“I used to be short too. Then, I played volleyball.” The tires screeched and Oikawa alarmingly glanced at Hinata who seemed frozen against the seat. Fortunately, they were stopped at a red light and didn’t break any laws.

“...You play volleyball?” Hinata’s long bangs were shadowing his face and the brunette gulped nervously.

“Yes?”

“You… Oh my god!” The shorter one burst out, his face nearing Oikawa’s as he sprung up with stars dancing in his eyes. “I play too! That’s so cool!” He laughed freely, driving leisurely along the road again.

“Yeah, I’m the setter.” At those words, Hinata froze again, before shaking his head and smiling wistfully outside. A guitar was playing in the background, the steady strums vibrating softly in the air.

“That’s nice… Oh sorry! I didn’t mean to suddenly stop the car right away like that! Oh my god, are you okay?!” He fretted, worriedly biting at his lip.

“No, no, I’m fine! I’m okay, chibi. I take balls to the face all the time! Wait! I didn’t mean like that but like volleyballs! Cause I play volleyball!” Oikawa groaned in embarrassment, burying their head in their hands. Hinata guffawed loudly, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel to the beat of the guitar on the radio.

“It’s okay. I’m pretty nervous about this date too. I know it will go well though. Cause I have you.” As he said the soothing words, Hinata glanced up at Oikawa with an awkward grin, grasping Oikawa’s hand with his own. The brunette’s fingers tingled with warmth when their hands met, a smaller, coarse hand meeting with a larger, rough hand. All the hard work through volleyball, all the passion for the sport was in both of their hands. And they could feel it. Emotions in Oikawa that they never felt before sang underneath their skin, pumping their veins and eating away at their stomach. It was new emotion, something that Oikawa embraced within themselves as they unconsciously gripped tighter onto the other’s hand like a lifeline. They smiled tenderly, excitedly, towards the future, and towards their date.

“We’re here!” Hinata excitedly bounced up and down in the driver’s seat, resembling more of an elementary kid on a field trip than a grown man going on a date. The brunette laughed under their breath as they faced the front, observing the surroundings of their date.

“Wow.”

“I hope you like it,” Hinata gazed down at their entwined hands and lightly squeezed his date’s hand. “I didn’t know where to go so I just picked this instead. I hope you like flowers.” Hinata briefly let go of Oikawa’s hand and a surging wave of emptiness crashed against Oikawa’s cold fingers. The brunette glanced down at their hand, the last remains of warmth fading away with the wind as Hinata exited the car, Oikawa copying the actions. Relief washed over them once more when the orange head gripped their hand again, leading the way to the beautiful flower festival.

“It’s beautiful.” Oikawa stated in awe, eyes wide as they surveyed the area in wonder. They gazed at Hinata, who was just as enamored with the view as the brunette was, and Oikawa let out a deep sigh. “So beautiful.” They whispered to themselves, watching as Hinata turned around with starstruck eyes and wide, toothy grins that swelled up the brunette’s beating heart. As the wind picked up and the flower petals danced away from their former bodies, Oikawa briefly wondered if this is what paradise looked like.

“Tooru, look!” Their heartbeat thumped wildly like an animal desiring to be free from its cage. “They have sunflowers! I love sunflowers!” The incarnation of the sun himself gleefully dragged the brunette over to the large stalks of yellow suns. Oikawa couldn’t find it in themselves to care about their nice boots against the dirt.

“They’re so pretty.” The brunette admitted, watching their crush like a hawk. Small, delicate fingers traced the outline of the petals, gently caressing it like Hinata was holding a sacred treasure. The taller shuddered, completely warm despite the wind.

“These are my favorite flowers…” Hinata hummed, “what about you?”

“Daisies.” Oikawa blurted out before they could properly think about the question and come up with an honest answer. They found that even when they racked through their brain, the answer was still “daisies”.

“Oh?” Hinata’s large eyes framed with long, sun like eyelashes fluttered up to gaze at Oikawa. “Why’s that?”

“Because they represent innocence. Innocence and purity. It’s a beautiful flower full of secrets untold, despite its innocence outside. I think daisies are beautiful because of the loyal love they give towards others.” The taller one wistfully said. They only remembered what the daisy represented since they searched up the meanings behind flowers when the brunette was handed the bouquet by their long time crush.

“That’s so nice and like, really deep. I only like sunflowers because they remind me of the sun. I love the sun so much. It’s so warm and it envelops you with bright rays and warm blankets! It’s kind of like gwah! You know?” Hinata ended the sentence with a high jump in the air, his figure shadowing over Oikawa’s with the action. The brunette felt amazed. They smiled once more and squeezed their date’s hand.

“I know.” _I know because that’s the way I feel when I’m with you._

The two continued to view the beautiful scenery before them as they laughed about dumb jokes, learned more about each other (and themselves), told embarrassing stories, and gazed at each other whenever the other wasn’t looking. Oikawa found themselves enjoying their time with their date fully, sneaking peeks at the orange head whenever he was observing the different, colorful flowers. Hinata appeared to be the sun in replacement of the actual fiery orb. White clouds hid the sun, leaving the festival chilly and gloomy. But, for Oikawa, they didn’t need the warm sun rays or the bright light to blanket over the earth. They discovered that the sun, the warmth, the beautiful light in their life, was all in one small body, full of unadulterated joy and overflowing kindness. Oikawa found Hinata.

And the hand clasping tightly, yet gingerly, against their own, pulling them along to their crush’s energetic pace, had the brunette reeling in ecstasy. Their heart skipped a beat when Hinata’s glowing face met theirs with overzealous grins and quirky hand movements to emphasize his words. And gods, when he _laughed._ Everything seemed to fall into place, like the world--their world--revolved solely around the ethereal being known as Hinata Shouyou. It was all too much for a simple person such as Oikawa Tooru.

“Uwaah! That was fun!” Hinata exclaimed, stretching his arms above his head, reminding Oikawa of a yawning lion (cub). The orange head beamed at his date, hands still grasping at the other’s. They were back in the car, Hinata driving down to an old diner that was apparently “out of this world” (Oikawa briefly wondered if Hinata was an alien; that would explain his pulchritude that indeed gave the impression of “out of this world”).

“Yeah, it was pretty nice. The flowers were so pretty.” The brunette responded, hat taken off long ago as they brushed through their unruly locks. Listening to old 90s music--and Hinata humming along to them, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat--and gazing outside the window, Oikawa sighed happily. The dark clouds above rumbled with vociferous groans, promises of cleansing rainfall alerting the starving earth beneath them. One by one, little specks of rain water released its hold from the tear shedding clouds, various sizes of teardrops dropping down against the beaten car they were driving in. The brunette’s mind wandered aimlessly, turning around thoughts with a lazy flick of their hand and thinking about the whole day so far. It was only around noon time after all.

“Ok, we’re here!” The shorter announced, dramatically gesturing towards the old (almost shabby) looking restaurant, which held a very similar resemblance to the sad car Hinata cherished and drove around proudly.

“Look’s… Nice.” Oikawa tried. Hinata didn’t seem to notice (or simply ignored) the slight puzzled tone the brunette held in their voice.

“Right?! It looks bad but like in a good way! It just screams home to me, you know?” The taller really didn’t know how their crush could harbor such fond love towards a dusty, ancient diner like the one before them, but they found it oddly endearing. It was hard to refuse the shorter male when he gazed up at Oikawa with wide, hopeful eyes.

“You’re right.” The setter merely said, following behind the shorter volleyball player. They scanned the small restaurant as the duo entered, a bell chiming to signal their arrival. Oikawa gaped openly, a small noise of awe sliding out of their throat. Hinata nodded, bouncing up and down as his chocolate orbs flickered between the tranquil diner, and his date.

“So….Do you like it?” Hinata asked shyly. Oikawa gulped, smelling the brewing coffee and vanilla wafting enticingly in the air. Behind Hinata, booths lined against the large windows and small tables with flower patterned tablecloths filled up the rest of the available space in the restaurant. It was homey, to say the least.

“Yeah.” They answered truthfully, gazing at old knick knacks covering the walls and laying on top of high shelves. “It’s really nice.”

“I’m glad.” Hinata’s eye wrinkling smile caught Oikawa off guard, but they merely smiled bashfully at the other as the orange head dragged them over to the cash register, which was right next to a huge display of multiple sweets.

“Oh, Hinata! It’s so nice to see you! How have you been?” A short raven in spectacles inquired, smiling warmly at the shorter. Hinata bounced up and down on his heels, hand still against Oikawa’s like a personal heat source. The brunette didn’t miss the raven’s quick glance towards their knit hands.

“And this is Oikawa Tooru! Tooru, this is Takeda-san!” Takeda bowed politely at Oikawa, a warm tug of their lips greeting the other. Oikawa grinned, flashing a peace sign at the shorter.

“Yaho, Takeda-kun! It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you as well, Oikawa-san.” Takeda glanced at Hinata and his date, an unreadable expression in the wise, aged oak eyes. The cashier smiled secretly to themselves before gesturing towards the empty booths near the back, claiming it was Hinata’s favorite seats with a nonchalant sweep of their hand. Oikawa managed to mouth a quick “thank you” before being unceremoniously dragged to a booth next to the fogged up glass.

“Uwaah! It’s still raining! As much as I love the sun, I just love the rain too!” Hinata exclaimed after politely herding the brunette into the booth and seating himself across from them as well. The setter grinned, enjoying the constant babbles and gleaming orbs that seemed to change color just as much as the orange head changed emotions. When Hinata was sad, the brown in his eyes would darken until they resembled dark chocolate, the bitterness overcoming the sweet. When Hinata was excited, the orbs would lighten like smooth honey and cinnamon fused together to create something so sweet it astonished Oikawa. When the orange head was scared or anxious, his eyes would glaze over with pumpkin spice dying the iris. There was so many different expressions Hinata revealed with the stories he spun, but Oikawa’s favorite one of all, was the content and pure bliss radiating out of latte eyes, like stirring a hot cup of coffee and milk under a thousand stars in the brilliant night sky and reflecting off of the galaxies. The brunette would willingly become an astrophile if it meant they could stare in those star dazed eyes forever.

“I love autumn the most.” Oikawa found the words slipping out of their mouth before they could stop it. Hinata stopped in his rant of why summer was his most favorite season, even though he couldn’t pick one. He blinked owlishly, a small noise of understanding buzzing from his throat. Oikawa internally squealed.

“Why?” The brunette became serious once more at the curious question and they wondered how they would be able to word their reasoning without sounding like a total creep. After all, the only reason why they blurted out that answer was because the oranges, browns, reds, and golds reminded them solely of the focused sunny individual sitting straight across with a cup of hot chocolate. Oikawa found it endearing that Hinata frequented the old diner so often that the owners and chefs knew his order by heart. So far, no one approached them for their orders or even came over to place menus in front of them. Only Takeda, the beaming raven from before, watched the two with hawk like eyes and a grin on their face.

“I don’t know.” They shrugged truthfully. “I guess because Halloween is during the fall. Halloween is my favorite holiday to be honest.” Hinata beamed, sipping timidly at his mug before wiggling contently in his seat.

“That’s so true! I love Halloween so much! I get free candy and I get to dress up! But, everyone always thinks I’m a kid because of my height.” He wrinkled his nose at the thought and unconsciously pouted. Oikawa giggled behind long fingers as they used their other hand to tap against the wooden table. The sound reverberated from the table and created a synchronized harmony that matched with the low buzz of a radio.

“That’s funny.” They commented, grinning cheekily when the other looked very offended. Hinata huffed, crossing his arms.

“No it isn’t! I mean, I guess the free candy is nice, but I don’t want to be mistaken for a child all the time! One time I was pulled over by a police officer because she thought I was a runaway child!” Oikawa guffawed, hiding an undignified snort with a short cough. Hinata pouted. “It’s not funny! I hate looking so tiny!” The brunette cleared their throat before covering the smaller hand with their own. Hinata glanced up again, frustration clear in the bitter black coffee orbs.

“Well, I think you look perfect just the way you are.” The brunette admitted shyly, gaze flitting down to the carved inscriptions on the table. A small squeeze alerted them of the other’s presence and as they stared back towards the shorter male, their heart thudded almost painfully (thrillingly). A soft look was in his eyes, full of fond gratitude and gentle affection. And as cliche (and gay) as Oikawa turned out to be ( _sorry mom,_ they numbly thought), they practically melted, like the chocolate inside of Hinata’s favorite drink.

“Thank you.” He whispered, almost afraid to break the quiet atmosphere between them. His eyelashes touched his cheek as the shorter male craned his neck towards his date. Oikawa gulped, following Hinata’s example as the distance between their faces grew smaller. They could feel the hot breath wash over their face as well as the scent of sun ripened oranges and autumn pumpkins with a hint of cinnamon. Before the two could melt into a sweet first kiss, stomping noises could be heard throughout the nearly empty diner as they approached quickly to the booth Hinata and Oikawa were currently residing at. Immediately, they both snapped open their eyes and turned away with similar flushes of rose red blooming on their faces. Thunder and lightning struck ominously from the pouring clouds as Hinata turned towards the huffing person first. He widened his eyes at the familiar person in front of him, feeling his heart freeze and numb behind a wall of sharp ice.

“Kageyama…” When he spoke, the utter hurt and sorrow struck Oikawa, and they whipped around as fast as they could with a small gasp and realization filling cinnamon eyes.

“Kageyama?” They muttered, instantly recognizing the wretched name they wanted oh so desperately to forget and flush down the toilet along with buried memories. Something clicked in their mind and Oikawa faced Hinata, who’s eyes were empty. The brunette suppressed a sad frown. They didn’t like the unreadable gleam in those beautiful caramel eyes.

“Shouyou, please…” The raven started, hands clenching into balled up fists, “I know what I did was wrong, but please. I can’t live without you!” Kageyama exclaimed, rushing towards the other with pleading eyes. Hinata flinched, scooching away from the other as fast as he could with a pained frown, one that bordered on a sad grimace with trembling lips.

“Please....” Though his eyes were clear as day, the melancholy seeped obviously into his tone. “Please go away. I already told you, we’re _through._ ” Kageyama frowned deeply before finally noticing the person sitting across from Hinata.

“...Oikawa?” The brunette snapped their head up at their name being uttered and they glared venomously into the raven’s shocked eyes. They bitterly noted how the raven was still as dashingly handsome as ever, with dark cobalt eyes and perfectly groomed black strands that didn’t stick up all over the place like Oikawa’s did.

“Kageyama.” They spat, feeling the name bubbling angrily in their stomach and rising up to their chest. The raven’s frown grew as he switched his attention back to his ex boyfriend.

“You chose _him_ of all people?” The raven growled. Hinata trembled underneath the other’s towering figure and stared up defiantly into his ex’s narrowed orbs.

“Yeah, I did. What’s it to you? Oh, and Tooru goes by _them,_ you ignorant asshole.” The orange head snarled, his usual look of innocence replaced with something dark and sinister that Oikawa couldn’t help but stare wide eyed in amazement. Their heart beat as fast as ever as Hinata continued to defend his date. Kageyama snorted and the feeling of awe vanished in Oikawa’s heart. They frowned, eyes full of hatred and malice at the raven.

“So, where’s Ushiwaka? Are you two still sleeping together or did you two finally realize what you were doing was disgusting and wrong?” Oikawa ignored the stab of pain from the familiar nickname, the name of someone they’d much rather erase their memories for. Kageyama’s nose flared. Hinata bitterly glared at the raven and snuck a worried glance at the brunette.

“It’s none of your business, Oikawa.” Kageyama stated through grinding teeth. Oikawa laughed mirthlessly, the same hatred overflowing from their brown eyes. Hinata growled, low under his throat as he pulled his ex back with a barely concealed shout.

“Yeah? Well it’s all of _my_ business. You’re the one that cheated on me with _him._ And Tooru deserves to know. We’re both at the short end of the stick here, Kageyama.” Hinata pointed out with an angry huff. The raven’s face was caught between grief, guilt, and fury as he stared down at his feet with a thoughtful huff. Meanwhile, Oikawa froze at the words. Something was weird, and they could feel an incoming storm (literally and metaphorically) about to rain hellfire down their throat. Something about Hinata’s words struck a question deep within their brain. _Does he know I used to date Ushiwaka? Well, I guess it makes sense because he must have fought with Kageyama and found out. But, why does it feel so wrong? Why is my instinct telling me to brace myself or run? What’s going on, Hinata?_

“I get it.” Kageyama sighed in frustration after a while, running an irritated hand through his straight black licorice locks. He glared at both Hinata and Oikawa before backing up from the table. “You two are dating to get back at us, aren’t you?” The brunette gaped. They didn’t even know that Hinata’s ex boyfriend was Kageyama! However, Hinata, on the other hand...

“No! I mean, yes, but….” Oikawa felt sick to their stomach at the smug grin on Kageyama’s face and the begging orbs on their crush’s face. Kageyama crossed his arms, a thin line on his lips but a grin in his eyes. The brunette felt the breakfast from the morning slowly rising up from their stomach and into their throat. They swallowed down the bile.

It suddenly made a lot of sense. Why Hinata always went to the Target Oikawa worked at, despite living far away. Why Hinata grimaced when the brunette told him they were a setter. The sad, tender smiles as the orange head talked about volleyball and the occasional thoughtful glances out the window. The world almost stopped spinning and the brunette realized it was because their head was spinning. Everything fell perfectly into place.

“You were only dating me… To get back at Kageyama?” _To make him jealous?_ Oikawa’s mind nearly shut down. Hinata’s wild hand gestures suddenly weren’t so cute anymore as the orange head frantically tried to explain. It was all a simple misunderstanding, right?

“That’s right, Oikawa.” Kageyama sneered. Hinata glared at his ex boyfriend before placing a hand on top of the brunette’s.

“Tooru, please hear me out.” At the silence, Hinata barreled on. “I know you’re upset right now that I was hiding this from you. But, I was going to tell you after this date ended! I wanted to keep on pushing this away, so I wouldn’t have to face your disappointed and unhappy face.” He inhaled shakily. “And by doing that, I hurt the person I care about the most. You. The truth is, I did want to get back at Kageyama at first. But, after meeting you and finding out you were _the Oikawa,_ I was immediately entranced. You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met, Tooru and every day, you were constantly in my mind. I couldn’t do anything anymore because I wanted to know you more. I wanted to kiss you, hold you in my arms… Please. Please, Tooru. You gotta believe me.” Hinata began to bawl, tears streaking down the red tinged cheeks and sun kissed skin. Oikawa remained silent. The orange head felt hope filter into his system when Oikawa brought their head back up.

“Let go of me.” The hope blossoming in his chest was squashed by the shaky voice of his crush. Before Hinata could say anything else, Oikawa snatched their hand back, fury brimming in their glossy eyes. Oikawa didn’t know what to do, what to say. All they knew was that Kageyama still held a smug smile and Hinata had played them as a fool. He didn’t love them. He was just using them as a way to get back at the raven. And since Kageyama was now here, Hinata’s mission was accomplished. The brunette sunk back into their shell and wiped away all emotions as they gazed at the couple.

“Tooru…” Hinata whispered out, tears flooding from his brown eyes. Oikawa merely smiled, an empty upturn of their lips that nearly faltered when another sob from their crush, no, previous crush, sharply spilled out of his blood red lips.

“I hope you two are happy together.” The brunette stood up, gathering the last of their wits before leaving the booth and their crushed dreams behind in the dingy old diner. They passed a shocked looking Takeda, who tried calling out to them. They ignored the raven. They’d seen enough black haired people for the day. As Oikawa exited the diner, the large raindrops drenched them to the bone. They couldn’t feel the chill. While calling for a cab and successfully gaining a ride back to their mundane life, the door behind them slammed open.

“Tooru!” Oikawa’s heart sank further and they plastered on another smile as the brunette turned towards the familiar sunset orange. “Tooru, please! I know what I did was wrong, but please! I-I…. I love you!” The brunette closed their eyes, grateful for the water from above to mask the tears dripping down their cheeks. Even with the sunny orange head besides them, warmth would not find its way to their heart.

“Don’t call me that.” The brunette firmly replied, exhaling slowly. Hinata looked like he had just been hit by a train. Oikawa shook their head. “I…” They breathed shakily, trying to feel as confident as they looked. “I don’t want to see you again, Hinata. Please don’t come back to where I work or I’ll quit my job.” The orange head’s lip trembled at the harsh words as they stepped forward with pleading rust orbs, wet with streaming teardrops.

“No, no, please! I don’t want to lose you too, please, Oikawa... “ Hinata cried, nearly flinging himself on the ground. Oikawa stepped back, eyes shut to hide the pain and sorrow within them. Everything was gray and black and blue, like bruises littering across the world and echoing the pain the brunette felt wretch their heart.

“I loved you, you know.” The brunette started. They would confess their feelings and then simply move on, without a single thought towards yet another failed attempt at a relationship. They felt disappointed, mainly in themselves.

“Oikawa…” Hinata whispered, raw puffy eyes staring up at the taller male. Rain poured down harder as thunder rumbled in the distance. Oikawa shook their head.

“But, I’m a fool. I’m a fool for thinking that someone as bright as you could love someone as dull as me.” A harsh laugh nearly split their pounding head. “I knew it was too good to be true… I knew, I knew that it was just wishful thinking on my part. But, I know now…” They sucked in a deep breath as a shaky sob escaped their iron grip on their emotions. The dam was nearly breaking and Oikawa was standing right below it.

“No, no, Oikawa. I love you so much. You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever known. Please, just give me a second chance. I want to make it up to you. I want to show you how much you mean to me…” Oikawa barked out another bitter laugh, the tears flowing freely from their eyes. Hinata inched a little closer, those haunting chocolate orbs blinking off water. He was almost there, almost close enough to touch his crush. Oikawa stepped back, closer to the road as the cab that they called drove closer towards the two figures. The brunette shook their head and Hinata felt his body freeze.

“I’m sorry. I want to give in, I want to listen to your sweet lies.” Oikawa glanced at the cab that stopped in front of the diner and next to the brunette. “I loved you, Hinata Shouyou.” A honk from the driver. The taller male’s lips turned up for a brief moment.

“Thank you for making me feel loved.” Oikawa turned away and opened up the back car door. “Goodbye, Hinata Shouyou.” _Goodbye, my first love._

And without another glance at their fallen crush, they shut the door behind them, the cab speeding away from the male that haunted their thoughts and dreams constantly. The same male that directed that beautiful, sunny smile straight at Oikawa. The brunette dug their head into their hands, a small sob echoing through the car as wracks covered their freezing body. It was over. Oikawa had left behind another mistake, another regret. But, they numbly thought, gazing outside the window with rolling waterdrops dripping down the glass, at least it was one of the best mistakes they ever made. Another vivid image of bright sunflowers and the loving, mirthful smile from soft pink lips invaded their mind. Pure torture stabbed into their system and a single teardrop fell out of their glazed over eyes.

Oikawa Tooru pushed the thought of hopeful futures, love filled gazes, and warm mornings shared with an even warmer body out of their mind as they shut their eyes. The color in their sight, the constant warm and sun filled emotions finally set. And just like how the sunset leads to a world of darkness, Oikawa sank back into their mundane, empty life and returned to the black and white abyss before they met a wonderful, painfully beautiful being named Hinata Shouyou.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

And that’s how Iwaizumi found his best friend, curled up in a pathetic ball under their lame alien covers. The raven sighed, puffing out a long, exasperated breath which tickled his short midnight bangs. Iwaizumi walked around the bed over to the brunette and lay a hand on top of Oikawa, who looked almost dead with their frozen limbs and the barely there rise and fall of their chest.

“Tooru?” Iwaizumi began, eyebrows drawn together as they didn’t bother to acknowledge their friend’s presence. The raven sighed, moving his lingering hand away from their form, a barely noticeable brush of his fingers. He sat down on the edge of the bed, away from the covers wrapped around the turtle of his friend, who curled up further in their shell of blankets. Iwaizumi leaned back, eyes honed in on the ceiling, on the glow in the dark stars littered across the sky walls. Without glancing over to his friend, the raven opened his mouth.

“The kid showed up again.” No response. Iwaizumi continued anyway, feeling deja vu from the exact same spot he sat upon when his best friend’s heart was ripped out viciously by a certain ace from their opposing team.

“He keeps bugging me, you know.” A small chuckle from the raven as he remembered the desperate glint in those unwavering chocolate orbs, the way they sparkled with worry and unshed tears, as if he was about to drop on all fours and start bawling. “Keeps asking “where’s Oikawa? Where are they”, and all that mumbo jumbo.” The brunette stirs this time, as if being struck in the side from those words.

“I know you don’t want to see him. I know what he did was wrong. I know that you are able to quit this damn job if you wanted to…” Iwaizumi sucks in a deep breath. He inhales the smell of cotton and clean laundry, mingling in with the familiar scent of bubblegum and cinnamon because Oikawa loves eating hot tamales and loves blowing bubbles. Makes them feel like a kid again, they said with a bubbly, wide grin. And that’s why Iwaizumi was here. To help the idiot feel better and to revel in those familiar, large smiles and magical laughter bursting out of their mouth like their favorite candy.

“But I also know you better than anyone else. And I know that truthfully, you still love this Hinata. You feel betrayed, but you also feel like a part of your heart is gone because of what he’s done. Now, I’m not trying to say that he’s excused from his actions, of course not. But, I think you should give this guy another chance. He’s completely different from Ushijima, nothing but loud laughter and innocent smiles.” Iwaizumi breathed in, the scent of his best friend a strong reminder of their past, of different seasons changing but Oikawa staying the same sentimental, kind fool they always were.

“In a way, he kind of reminds me of you… Of what you could have been if Ushijima hadn’t done his… Thing…” The raven clears his throat and continues to stare at the ceiling. It’s a little blurry, but he has Oikawa’s room memorized, just like how he memorized how many boxes of hot tamales the brunette can eat in one sitting (six), or what his best friend always said to people whenever those “ignorant” people would say aliens “aren’t real”, or even how many freckles are on Oikawa’s nose. He remembers all of these and a pang of nostalgia threatens to release the wave of tears built in his tears. Iwaizumi knows everything about Oikawa because of their strong relationship, and he can sense, feel, taste every single emotion that flits across his best friend’s face, or spills out of his voice, or appears when the brunette is plastering on a fake face.

“I’m sorry.” He finally breaks, his feelings the dishes that Oikawa broke when they found out about their cheating boyfriend. Iwaizumi sinks to his knees, head held delicately in his hands as he wonders why life is so cruel to his loving, giving best friend. More tears slip out and he can still remember the way Oikawa was always there for him. The times when his transphobic and homophobic family kicked him out, declaring him to be a freak of nature, but Oikawa understood, they always did when it came to Iwaizumi; or when Iwaizumi first broke up with his first girlfriend because she was controlling and manipulative and threatened the raven, which riled up his best friend as they defended him, spat out words Oikawa should never have to spit out. All of the times Iwaizumi was down, Oikawa was there. He couldn’t imagine a life without his best friend, and he couldn’t imagine a life in which his best friend was a cold, broken shell of the person they once were. But, here he sat, crying and wailing because life was unfair and he didn’t deserve this, Oikawa didn’t deserve this.

“Y-you don’t d-deserve this. Tooru, I’m s-so sorry…” Iwaizumi paws at his eyes, wishing for these traitorous teardrops to evaporate and fade into mist. He feels pathetic. Oikawa was the one that was suffering right now, so why was he crying? He should be the strong support, the pillar of their relationship for Oikawa was fragile and weak at the moment, and the fool has always been sensitive and caring.

“Hajime.” Iwaizumi stills at the scratchy voice he hasn’t heard in over a week and feels a warm hand over his, gripping onto his fingers shakily. The raven doesn’t turn around. He doesn’t want his best friend to see how pathetic he was acting. They didn’t deserve to feel even worse than they did at the moment.

“Hajime, look at me.” The urgent tone of their voice snaps the raven out of his musings, and he slowly complies, wiping away the last of his tears that stain his red eyes and cheeks. When the shorter male is fully turned around, he’s quickly pulled into a tight hug as the brunette launches themselves at the other. Iwaizumi’s eyes are wide and his limbs frozen until his brain catches up with him and he’s enveloping his sobbing friend with shaky arms. They both cry, water leaking down onto their shirts and the heat is almost unbearable, but oh so familiar. The brunette drowns in their friend’s familiar scent of crackling firewood and spring flowers with a hint of rainwater while the raven breathes in cinnamon and clean laundry. Iwaizumi doesn’t remember the last time he’s embraced his best friend like this. Even when Oikawa was crying from their break up with Ushijima, the brunette merely threw on a ridiculous smile and dried their tears with a dirty sweater sleeve.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m so weak. I want to protect you, Tooru. From this cruel world and from terrible bullies and from your inner demons. But, I’m weak.” Iwaizumi confesses, the words rolling off his tongue effortlessly as he rambled on. Oikawa is oddly silent; the only thing convincing Iwaizumi that his best friend is still present is the heat between their chests and the shaky gasps of breath from their mouth.

“Hajime… You’re my best friend.” Iwaizumi snorts at the sentence, rubbing his eyes with a balled up fist.

“No duh, dipshit.” Oikawa releases a breath of small giggles, and Iwaizumi feels triumph soar up his chest at the bright sound. The brunette squeezes the shorter male’s hand one last time before they’re sitting up, facing the other with a goofy, teary grin on their face and wet cheeks.

“I’m trying to be serious here, Hajime.” The brunette reprimands lightly, gently punching the other in the arm. Iwaizumi barks out a short guffaw and the two melt into loud laughter, both their hands occupied in each other’s fingers. When the laughter dies down, Oikawa fondly smiles at their best friend and sighs deeply. It still felt hard to breath from all their crying, but their emotions were no longer a roller coaster that threatened to throw the brunette out of their seat, but instead, a calm breeze kissing their cheek as they strolled in a dying autumn park.

“What did you want to say, Shittykawa?” Iwaizumi jokes. The brunette’s grin grows at the nickname, and they giggle breathlessly.

“You’re not my shield, Hajime. You don’t have to protect me from all these things. If you’re the only always protecting me, then who’s going to be the one shielding you, and watching your back?”

“Tooru…” Oikawa holds up a finger, eyes closed as they exhale softly and gain back a part of their soul.

“You’re my best friend, Hajime, and I know you feel like it’s your fault for not being able to cheer me up better. But, you’re only human. You have your own inner demons too, and you still struggle with them to this day. You’re silly for thinking that you’re able to shoulder all my burdens and your own at the same time.” The setter rolls their eyes and smiles soothingly at the other, their friend gazing down at their hands before glancing back up and meeting twinkling brown orbs. He sighed.

“For once, you’re right, Tooru. Thank you.” Iwaizumi straightens up and yanks his hands away with an embarrassed blush on his tan face. He clears his throat awkwardly, not used to being able to freely convey his feelings. The raven stood up onto the ground and began to smooth out his wrinkled, damp clothing.

“No, thank _you,_ Hajime. I wouldn’t be here without you.” Oikawa admitted, toying with the strings of their unraveling shirt. They won’t glance at each other, a usual habit they both eventually agreed on without saying a word. The setter was sheepish at feeling so low and dragging their friend in while the shorter male felt uncomfortable with all his emotions on display (even if it was his best friend, he wasn’t used to talking about his inner feelings). The raven doesn’t reply as his feet awaken from their temporary slumber and he walks out of the room without another look back. Iwaizumi holds back a watery smile, but he knows that Oikawa knows and understands how he’s truly feeling.

_I wouldn’t be here without you either, Shittykawa._

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Good morning!” Oikawa Tooru greeted their coworkers and boss with a friendly smile as they checked in their hours. The employees and employer gaped openly, wondering what happened to their usually exhausted and complaining Oikawa as the brunette waved past them with an emotionless Iwaizumi in tow. The brunette hummed a merry tune, waving at each of the morning staff with a large grin on their face. Most of the women nearly swooned at their honest smile while others had similar reactions to their fellow coworkers.

The brunette finally settled down in their old, comfortable spot behind the cashier as they fixed the crooked name tag pinned onto their bright red polo shirt. Iwaizumi crossed his arms, waiting for the first few morning birds to walk in and buy whatever morning people bought. The doors unlocked and opened, and Oikawa could feel their heart beating erratically in their chest. It had been a week since the last time they saw their crush, and although his beating heart still hurt, they still couldn’t help but wait in agony for the beautiful male with sunshine curls and large hot chocolate eyes to greet them as they usually did.

“Tooru.” The setter met their friend’s steel eyes. “Good luck.” Oikawa beamed at their friend as the raven turned away, probably to watch people walk around the store with their own untold stories in their lives. Oikawa gulped in anxiety as they checked their phone. Hinata would be here any second, according to Iwaizumi. Apparently the dedicated boy managed to arrive at Target at 8:30 am on the dot. There was about half an hour left before said male would show up and the brunette already felt like their stomach was inhaling their lungs. It was going to be a long thirty minutes…

The Target cashier’s eyes were trained on the sliding doors the whole time as they waited for the short stature of the sunny male show up. Even when they were attending to the small amount of customers, they still glanced at the doors from the corner of their anxious eyes. Iwaizumi didn’t seem affected by his friend’s strange behavior. He merely served customers and stared at other people from a distance, which was his mundane behavior and actions while at work, anyway. Oikawa flitted around the small counter separating the customer from the cashier as they kept checking on the time.

When 8:30 finally rolled around (which felt like five years to the brunette), Oikawa held their breath, hastily stuffing the phone back in their gross tan khakis (they hated the uniform). Their heart was beating wildly at this point as they stared intensely at the sliding doors. Any second now and their crush would walk in, probably shuffling their feet in a shy manner and glancing around with an anxious gleam coating pumpkin spice orbs. However, the short volleyball player was nowhere in sight, and Oikawa couldn’t help a large sigh escaping from their lips.

“Excuse me?” The brunette faced the customer, who was impatiently waiting for the cashier to ring them up. The person huffed as Oikawa sluggishly scanned the items and bagged them while trying to maintain a carefree smile on their face. It was slowly slipping as the person grabbed the bags after paying and sauntered off with a rude, loud whisper of how slow the staff was in this Target. The brunette checked their phone again, sighing when they saw it was already 8:34 and their crush still hadn’t made an appearance. They shut their eyes, hoping to stop the incoming flood of liquid about to trickle down their cheeks--

“Wow. That person was rude.” A familiar voice piped up, and the brunette whipped their head up so fast they almost snapped their neck. Oikawa openly gaped, taking in the striking appearance of Hinata Shouyou, clad in black capris and a white shirt saying, “Backstroke for days” in bold dark blue letters. The wild strands of orange were free and as messy as ever, like the male had just rolled out of bed before coming to the store (which he probably did).

“Hinata…” The brunette finally uttered, their breath coming short as the other’s eyes stared them down, a serious glint in his orbs as he sighed. He slipped into a familiar smile, eyes shut as he grinned so wide, his mouth took up most of his face. Oikawa basked in the same glow from long ago and allowed the shadows of their heart to be chased away by the blinding sun.

“Hi, Oikawa! It’s been so long since I’ve last seen you! How have you been?” The orange haired male asked, tender eyes blinking up at the other, who felt like their heart would explode into a thousand pieces. They swallowed nervously, fingers itching to scratch off every imperfection they suddenly felt.

“Pretty good.” They managed to calmly say. “How about you?” Hinata hummed.

“I’ve seen better days,” he freely admitted, rocking back and forth on his heels, his gaze still locked onto Oikawa with the same damn fond look in them, “but they’re better now that I see you.” The brunette nearly choked on their own saliva at the blunt words, and they could feel themselves coloring like a little kid scribbled scarlet crayon all over their pale cheeks. It felt awkward, at least for the cashier, as Hinata nodded and announced he would go buy something from the store, but would return soon.

“Oh my god.” Oikawa melted behind the counter after the other sped off, dust at his heels. The brunette sank down to the ground, hands cupping their face as the heat spread all the way to their ears and contently stayed there. They could hear Iwaizumi snorting from his spot, probably a frown on his face but bemusement clear in his eyes. It was still pretty early in the morning, with only a few people out and about, and Oikawa wondered how they would be able to survive the day.

They snapped out of their thoughts when a close sound of various products rustling on the conveyor belt was heard. Oikawa quickly jolted up, hoping they wouldn’t have to encounter another rude customer like they had a few minutes ago. Instead of some random stranger though, it was Hinata (also known as Oikawa’s heart problem).

“Hey! Did you wait long?” The brown eyed male inquired, back to bouncing on his heels. Oikawa shook their head, glancing down at the various items laying innocently on the belt. Their eyes nearly popped out of their head at the items. Because on the conveyor belt, was almost about thirty items, each of them related to the brunette in one way or another.

“W-what?” They stammered. They were speechless and their brain short circuited as their eyes repeatedly scanned over the items before restarting again.

“Hot tamales and bubblegum because they are your favorite candy and snacks, glow in the dark stars and race cars because you love space and the cars were and are still your favorite toys, baby oil because you used to have super dry skin when you were younger, puzzles of dogs and cats since you love cute animals but you were always allergic so you weren’t able to have a pet, so puzzles were you favorite because they had your favorite animals and you were really good at them, christmas gift wrapping paper because your mom's favorite holiday is christmas, and you secretly love wrapping gifts because they make you feel accomplished, even though you hate holiday hours and working, mascara from when you told me you were running out, fuzzy socks with hearts on them because your feet are always cold and you always wanted a pair of heart socks…” Hinata counted off on his fingers as Oikawa’s face started to become more and more like a tomato.

“....ten “I’m sorry” cards because you like how pretty they are and ten is your lucky number, a huge blanket because it can get cold in your apartment, paper plates because your friends always come unannounced and you’re too lazy to do the dishes, apple cinnamon scented candles are your favorite, marshmallows for your chubby bunny challenge when you first met your friend Kuroo…”

“Hinata…” Oikawa was numb with shock. All of the stories the brunette ever told his crush was apparently memorized by said crush, who continued to rant about everything he knew about Oikawa (which was a lot). Hell, even Iwaizumi was listening in, an impressed look on his face.

“Those “Frozen” posters since you like practicing your darts on them since you think “Frozen” is overrated, a princess coloring book with stickers since you love to color in the lines and you like to put stickers all over Iwaizumi’s locker at work, a jar of spaghetti sauce since that’s your best dish, colored highlighters and sharpies because you like to doodle with them, a beach towel since you lost yours at the beach last summer, those kids sunglasses that you’ve always wanted as a child so you could be “cool”, a bunch of matching mugs since Bokuto always seems to “mug” them from you…”

“Hinata, oh my god. You can stop now.” Oikawa stated, the heat blossoming on their face permanently once again. Hinata ignored them, determined to get to the end of the list.

“...those Kraft mac n cheese cups that you’re so used to eating from college, a febreeze spray can that you say are perfect for your murderous tendencies as a joke, travel sized hand sanitizers because they’re “aesthetically pleasing” and smell nice and are clean, a DVD of the first Shrek movie because you think it’s a good meme and a good movie…” Hinata sucked in a breath, seeing as he managed to barrel through the long list and seemed to still be going.

“Hinata, please. There’s a line.” Oikawa tried, but knew that it was a fail proof lie, seeing as no one would want to wake up at the asscrack of dawn to go to Target of all places. That and everyone else that was actually at the store decided not to wait behind Hinata and his numerous amount of endless items.

“And the last few things… A bouquet of daisies because they’re your favorite, a box of hot chocolate mix since you love drinking it during fall, your favorite season, a box of brownie mix since you love brownies and you like baking, a classical music CD, and finally…” Hinata gestured to the last item at the end of the conveyor belt.

“A volleyball?” Oikawa asked, still a bit breathless from the thought of Hinata remembering every little conversation they held together. It meant a lot to the brunette, more than their crush would ever know. Hinata beamed, a starry eyed look in his eyes that reminded Oikawa too much of the beige galaxies they loved the most.

“Yeah! Your favorite thing in the whole galaxy is volleyball, after all!” He giggled, fondly stroking the ball’s surface. “It’s the number one thing we had in common.” Sighing, Hinata dropped the ball back on the conveyor belt, a pleading gaze directed straight at Oikawa’s heart.

“I know what I did hurt you, and I’m not expecting you to forgive me at all…” The orange haired male stared down at his feet, shame written all over his beautiful face. And as he gazed up at Oikawa, a small burst of hope in those smoldering caramel eyes, Oikawa knew they were in too deep to ever consider turning down the one thing they’ve always dreamed of having: love.

“I…” They began, but was way too tongue tied to say anything.

“It’s okay. It’s okay if you can’t forgive me right away, or even at all! But just like today, I’ll keep trying to make it up to you… At least, until you can call me your friend again. I admit, I do want more, but I’m not going to pressure you.” Hinata calmly stated, an encouraging smile on his beaming face that imprinted itself snugly in Oikawa’s mind, a huge reminder of how much they loved this boy.

“Hinata…” They murmured, their blood rushing and singing through their veins at the thought of someone as pure, as precious as Hinata, loving them and cherishing them for who they are. It was a new, breathtaking feeling that synchronized with the longing embedded into their soul. Closing their cinnamon orbs, Oikawa took a deep breath. Hinata must have taken that as a wrong sign, for he quickly opened his mouth again.

“I’m sorry! If you don’t want me to come here ever again, that’s fine too!” Hinata waved his hands frantically in front of his face, a worried frown etched on the usually joyful face, and Oikawa once again realized why Hinata was meant to be the sun, born to be the brightest star the brunette has ever encountered.

“No, no! I just…” They blinked down to their toes, wondering briefly how to word their awkward feelings when it came to this star child. “I’m just… Shocked. Not in a bad way, but sometimes, I wonder what you see in a hopeless person like me.” The cashier brushed a hand through their wavy locks, ones that never flattened down when the person wanted them to. A short bark of laughter interrupted their internal monologue and they glanced up once more, an offended look on their face. The orange haired male quickly sobered up and waved his hands across his face again.

“I don’t mean to laugh at you!” Oikawa experienced slight deja vu, their frown changing into a smile as the male in front of him carried on. “It’s just… I don’t know how you could think like that. If anything, I’m the hopeless person wondering why such an amazing, beautiful person like you could ever like a short doof like me.” Hinata’s eyebrows scrunched up together at the thought until Oikawa cleared their throat, a bemused smile barely concealed behind two of their fingers.

“I don’t want to be friends.” The brunette answered, eyes twinkling mischievously when their crush seemed to deflate, wild hair and all.

“I see… Then, I’ll just buy all this stuff and go…” Hinata tried smothering his disappointment leaking from his voice, but utterly failed to do so as he smoothly pulled out a credit card. Oikawa giggled, crossing their arms and waiting until the orange head glanced up when he noticed the cashier wasn’t moving a single muscle. Hinata’s brow rose, but a small twinkle in his eyes, and the hope shining in them, was a dead giveaway of how much the orange haired male wanted to stay in the brunette’s life. And for that, they were grateful, honored, absolutely happy.

“You didn’t let me finish, Shou.” Hinata perked up at the name, a goofy smile bordering on thin lips. “I don’t want to be friends… I want us to start our relationship over again and maybe become something more?” Oikawa bit their lip, trying to mask the obvious mirth bubbling up their throat and flooding the air with their contagious laughter. They giggled behind their fingers when Hinata immediately stood tall, nearly bouncing across the walls of the store if not for the way he fidgeted, as if trying to resist the temptation.

“Really?!” He nearly yelped, stars literally lighting up the brown orbs. Oikawa nodded, chortles finally letting loose when Hinata fist pumped in the air, leaping up with his powerful, slender legs. Iwaizumi politely coughed behind his hand to hide a smile and Oikawa was grinning so much, they felt their face nearly split.

“That’s great and all, but could you get back to work, Oikawa?” The brunette instantly straightened up, a serious expression washing over their face as they smiled at the manager, who was eyeing the two with annoyance and slight amusement.

“Sorry, sir.”

“It’s fine. I just don’t want another complaint from another customer about our cashiers being slow.” The manager replied, a strained smile on their face as they nodded at Hinata before walking off to check on other employees that could be slacking off. Oikawa smiled brightly (and almost secretly) at their crush, who guffawed behind cupped hands. Their faces were tinged with a dark pink, but neither cared of what other people say for right now.

And as the brunette went back to their mundane job of scanning items, taking money, and avoiding flirty winks and pick up lines from random customers, Oikawa couldn’t help but smile. They bagged up the rest of Hinata’s things while said male watched them with goo goo eyes. When the cashier was done, the brown eyed male beamed up at him, lots of bags in tow.

“Well all this stuff is yours, so you can come pick them up at my house at 4:30 in the afternoon? You get off of work at 4, right?” Oikawa merely nodded, excitement too busy clogging up their throat to properly reply. Hinata grinned toothily at the other.

“Perfect. Then, I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” The shorter male waved goofily, five bags sliding down his arm further at the wave. Oikawa grinned, waving back until the male was out of sight. They sighed dreamily before something bright caught their attention from the corner of their eye. Glancing over to the conveyor belt, they noticed a bright yellow sticky note with hot pink scrawls across the paper. Upon closer inspection, the brunette read a list of phone digits (which were obviously Hinata’s), a cute smiley face next to it and a bunch of adorable stars dotting the page.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. By the way, you look cute. Hinata.” The setter read quietly to themselves, a huge grin forming on their face once more. It was adorable to them, and they hastily stuffed the note into their pocket as they noticed an approaching customer. With a huge smile, they greeted the customer.

“Hello, welcome to Target! Is that all for you?”

 ****  


 

 

 

 

 

Epilogue:

 

Oikawa Tooru woke up blearily, blinking the last of sleep from their eyes as they yawned. The sunlight streaming in from the open curtains explained why they were awake so early in the morning. They yawned once more, slightly irritated when they realized he forgot to close the drapes. Again. The person they were thinking of was nowhere in sight as they sat all the way up. However, they suspected that he was most likely in the kitchen, coming from the delicious smell wafting into the closed bedroom door.

After finishing up their daily routine, Tooru walked down the hallway, whistling a tune their beloved got stuck in their head. Grinning, the brunette wandered over to the kitchen, the smell growing and filling their nostrils.

“Oh! Good morning, Tooru!” Hinata Shouyou greeted his lover with a sunny smile and soft eyes. Tooru smiled, wrapping their arms around the warm body as they both shared a loving kiss.

“Good morning, Shou. It smells good in here.” Tooru complimented, moving with the shorter male as he hurried over to flip another pancake onto a plate. The brunette hummed, watching with rapt attention as Shouyou skillfully scrambled eggs on another pan, the orange head switching back and forth between two hot pans.

“Breakfast is almost ready. Ai is waiting for you at the dinner table. He kept complaining about how his “daddy” wasn’t up yet.” Shouyou laughed freely, effortlessly cooking sausage links on the same frying pan as the eggs. Tooru sighed, untangling themselves from their lover with a fond smile. Ai was their beautiful, adopted child, who was only seven years old. Both lovers cherished the rambunctious little boy, and every day, they thanked the heavens for gifting them with such a beautiful boy. He inherited beautiful caramel eyes from Shouyou while his spiky, brown locks were a mixture of Shouyou’s and Tooru’s. They both adopted him when he was only five, and now at two years together, Ai loved both his fathers (or sometimes father and mother or just father and guardian).

“Good morning, Ai!” Tooru enthusiastically said, opening their arms as Ai barreled right into them with a joyful expression on his face.

“Good morning, daddy! Or is it mommy today?” Tooru beamed down at his son, ruffling his brown locks and planting a loving kiss on the crown.

“It’s daddy today, Ai. But, thanks for asking!” The brunette smiled, lifting up their son. Ai squealed in response, demanding to be lifted higher so they could reach the stars (which he inherited from the space loving Tooru who loved to tell their son alien and government conspiracies while Shouyou exasperatedly rolled his eyes).

“Are you going to play volleyball with Uncle Iwaizumi today?” Ai tilted his head to one side as he asked, both guardian and son sitting down properly in their seats as Shouyou bustled out with three plates, two on one arm.

“Yup!” Tooru answered excitedly, kissing their lover when Shouyou placed a plate of American breakfast in front of them. Ai loudly thanked his father, who merely pecked him on the cheek before sitting down in between the two at their round, wooden table.

“Are you excited, Ai? You’ll get to see Mori again!” The orange haired male exclaimed, stuffing his mouth with toast, his cheeks puffing up much like a chipmunk’s. Tooru snorted behind their glass of orange juice, smiling innocently when Shouyou glared playfully at them.

“Yeah! I also really like Uncle Yuu and Uncle Azu! They always bring me gifts! Oh, and I can’t wait to see Uncle Koushi and Uncle Daichi!” Ai burst out, nearly falling off his chair in the process. He sheepishly settled back into this seat when Shouyou gave him a pointed look. Tooru laughed behind a hand, preferring to stay quiet when they were eating.

“That’s nice, sweetie. Just remember not to scare Suzuki away.” Shouyou was talking about Koushi and Daichi’s son, a shy sweet boy who loved volleyball just as much as his parents. Mori was Iwaizumi’s son, and was the oldest among the three friends at the age of nine.

“Okay, daddy!” Ai promised, gulping down his glass of milk after chewing on some pancakes. Tooru smiled at the domestic scene, wondering how they were so lucky to have two of the most precious treasures in their world loving them. They were truly lucky, they thought as Ai flicked a piece of egg at his father, Shouyou retaliating with a small piece of pancake, which Ai caught in his mouth. They both laughed until both father and son grinned wickedly. Nodding at each other, Shouyou and Ai readied their forks at the unsuspecting Tooru, who was still daydreaming, before launching dual pieces of sausage at the brunette.

“Waah!” Tooru yelped in surprise at the food thrown at their face. Snapping out of their daze, they blinked at their loved ones, both which were nearly in stitches.

“O-oh my god!” Shouyou guffawed, nearly banging the table with his fists.

“D-daddy! Y-you s-should have s-seen your face!” Ai continued, giggling gleefully behind his dirty fingers as the two laughed away. Tooru rolled their eyes before grinning widely. Shouyou recognized the smirk and quickly dodged around the table, the brunette hot on his heels.

“Save yourself, Ai!” Shouyou hollered, leading his lover away from the innocent boy, who merely laughed louder at the dinner table.

“Get back here, Shouyou!” Tooru shouted, adrenaline spiking their blood as they trailed mere inches behind the shorter male.

“You’ll never take me alive!” Shouyou screeched, throwing himself sharply to the right, which led to the living room. The brunette grinned widely, diving after their lover before snatching the male up, both landing on top of the large couch. The orange head dissolved in chortles when Tooru began tickling him, a playful smirk on their lips as Shouyou fell apart in their clutches.

“You’re my prisoner now!” Tooru announced triumphantly, sneaking kisses everywhere they could on top of Shouyou’s wiggling body. The orange haired male responded by laughing more.

“I give, I give! Please stop, Tooru!” Shouyou breathlessly pleaded, laughing in between his sentences. The brunette smiled fondly down at his lover, feeling nothing but joy rising up from their chest and wanting desperately to spill out of their lips.

“Nope. You deserve it for plotting against me with Ai!”

“A-Ai! Help!” Shouyou screamed, giggling growing louder and body scrambling away from Tooru’s hands. He couldn’t free himself, however, and when Tooru noticed their son trying to be sneaky and planning an attack on them, the brunette merely smiled, waiting for a smaller body to launch onto them.

Sure enough, Ai jumped on their back with a war battle cry, climbing up onto the broad back like a little monkey. Tooru laughed, halting their tickling punishment on their lover as they easily pulled Ai off of their back and pushed him onto the couch alongside his father, who panted harshly from the tickle attack.

“No, daddy, no!” Ai begged with large smile on his face. Tooru pretended to think about it, before they began to tickle the child, Ai’s boisterous laughter filling the house as Shouyou climbed back up to a sitting position, a broad smile brightening his face.

The brunette finally stopped their assault after a while, and the small family sat back against the large couch, Tooru resting their head on their lover’s shoulder with Ai sprawled comfortably across the two adults. Shouyou hummed the same tune stuck in his lover’s head, but Tooru couldn’t find it in themselves to care. Instead, they sunk into the warm body, cradling their son’s smaller body and stroking the brown locks.

And as the family calmed down, chests rising and falling together in sync, Tooru couldn’t help but thank their luckiest stars (and the aliens above as well) for giving them the joy, love, and security they’ve always dreamed of when they were little. And now that they had a beautiful lover and an adorable son, Oikawa Tooru knew they would never let them go.

 

 

**Fin.**

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaaaand that's the end! Idk I might do another like shorter chapter about how the two began dating and all the awkwardness that ensued, but I might not?? We'll see... Anyway, I hope you liked it! I prefer writing oneshots more than long chapters tbh... If you want to talk about ships or you want me to write something ( i don't do commissions ?? Like if you just want me to write something I'll gladly write it for free like it's I'm chill with writing and I like to see new ideas :0 ) then hmu @ suckmyaphnordicks on tumblr! 
> 
> PS. Sorry about the weird format w/ the short epilogue at the end ://// I wanted to write a short fluffy epilogue but I didn't want to put it in another work or as another chapter so I just stuck it at the bottom lol 
> 
> Thanks for reading, lovelies! <3


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